22 Aug 2014

PM willing to go under oath over documents

4:27 pm on 22 August 2014

Prime Minister John Key says he is prepared to answer questions under oath in the investigation into the release of spy agency documents to blogger Cameron Slater.

John Key campaigning in Christchurch on Thursday.

John Key campaigning in Christchurch on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Mr Key says he is 100 percent certain that he was not briefed by the director of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Warren Tucker that he was going to release documents which would embarrass the Labour Party.

This is despite Mr Key saying in 2011 that he was told. He has been insisting this week that his office was told, but he was not.

The information, which was damaging to the-then Labour Party leader Phil Goff, was released under the Official Information Act (OIA) to Mr Slater, a right-wing blogger.

Audio from a press conference Mr Key gave in 2011, when he answered questions on the documents, is raising more questions about what John Key knew.

The Labour and Green parties have called for Mr Key and staff in his office to be placed under oath in an investigation into whether Mr Slater, a right-wing blogger, was given the information for political purposes.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn, is carrying out the investigation. She is not prepared to comment on specific processes, but said in a statement today that she was committed to conducting an in-depth inquiry.